1060 on extra flexibility to address the consequences of military aggression of Russia FAST (Flexible Assistance for Territories) - CARE - Main contents

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dossier	COM(2022)325 - Amending regulations 1303/2013, 2021/1060 on extra flexibility to address the consequences of military aggression of Russia ...
document	COM(2022)325
date	October 19, 2022

Article 1

Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013

Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 is amended as follows:

(1)

in Article 30, the following paragraphs are added:

‘6. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, for programmes supported by the ERDF, the ESF or the Cohesion Fund, the Member State may transfer financial allocations between different thematic objectives within the same priority of the same Fund and category of region of the same programme.

Such transfers shall be considered to be not substantial and shall not require a decision of the Commission amending the programme. Nevertheless, these transfers shall comply with all regulatory requirements and shall be approved by the monitoring committee in advance. The Member State shall notify the revised financial tables to the Commission.

7. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, the application of a co-financing rate of up to 100 % pursuant to Article 120(9) to a priority axis promoting the socioeconomic integration of third country nationals that has been established within a programme, including those dedicated to operations addressing migratory challenges as a result of the military aggression by the Russian Federation shall not require a decision of the Commission amending the programme. The amendment shall be approved by the monitoring committee in advance. The Member State shall notify the revised financial tables to the Commission.’;

(2)

in Article 65, the following paragraph is inserted:

‘10a. Paragraph 6 shall not apply to operations addressing migratory challenges resulting from the military aggression by the Russian Federation.

Paragraph 6 shall also not apply to operations supported by the EMFF addressing the consequences of that aggression on the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

By way of derogation from Article 125(3), point (b), such operations may be selected for support by the ERDF, the ESF, the Cohesion Fund or the EMFF prior to the approval of the amended programme.’;

(3)

in Article 68c, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘For the implementation of operations addressing migratory challenges resulting from the military aggression by the Russian Federation, Member States may include in the expenditure declared in payment applications a unit cost linked to the basic needs and support of persons granted temporary protection or other adequate protection under national law in accordance with Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 (*1) and Council Directive 2001/55/EC (*2). That unit cost shall be EUR 100 per week for each full week or partial week that the person is in the Member State concerned. The unit cost may be used for a maximum of 26 weeks in total, starting from the date of arrival of the person in the Union.

(*1) Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022 establishing the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine within the meaning of Article 5 of Directive 2001/55/EC, and having the effect of introducing temporary protection (OJ L 71, 4.3.2022, p. 1)."

(*2) Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof (OJ L 212, 7.8.2001, p. 12).’;"

(4)

in Article 70(2), the following subparagraph is added:

‘Where operations receiving support from the ERDF, the ESF or the Cohesion Fund addressing migratory challenges resulting from the military aggression by the Russian Federation are implemented outside the programme area but within the Member State, only point (d) of the first subparagraph shall apply.’;

(5)	in Article 70, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following: ‘4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply to programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply to operations supported by the ESF, with the exception of the fourth subparagraph of paragraph 2.’;

(6)

in Article 96, paragraph 10 is replaced by the following:

‘10. Without prejudice to Article 30(5), (6) and (7), the Commission shall adopt a decision, by means of an implementing act, approving all the elements, including any of its future amendments, of the operational programme falling under this Article, except those falling under points (b)(vi), (c)(v) and (e) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, paragraphs 4 and 5, points (a) and (c) of paragraph 6, and paragraph 7, which remain under the responsibility of the Member States.’;

(7)

in Article 98, paragraph 4 is amended as follows:

(a)	the following subparagraph is inserted after the first subparagraph: ‘In addition, such operations may also be financed by the Cohesion Fund on the basis of rules applicable either to the ERDF or the ESF.’;

(b)

the following subparagraph is inserted after the second subparagraph:

‘Where a dedicated priority axis makes use of the possibility set out in the first and second subparagraph, at least 30 % of the financial allocation of that priority axis shall be attributed to operations which have beneficiaries that are local authorities or civil society organisations operating in local communities, or both. Member States shall report on the fulfilment of that condition in the final implementation report required under Article 50(1) and Article 111. Where that condition is not fulfilled, reimbursement by the Commission under the priority axis concerned shall be reduced proportionately to ensure that that condition is respected when calculating the final balance to be paid to the programme.’;

(c)

the third subparagraph is replaced by the following subparagraph:

‘Where data on participants is required to be reported for operations under the priority axis referred to in the third subparagraph, that data shall be based on informed estimates and shall be limited to the total number of supported persons and the number of children under 18 years of age. The same reporting requirements shall also apply to other priority axes supported by the ESF which are only supporting operations addressing migratory challenges as a result of the military aggression by the Russian Federation.’;

(8)

in Article 120, the following paragraph is added:

‘9. A separate priority axis promoting the socioeconomic integration of third country nationals with a co-financing rate of up to 100 % may be established within an operational programme. Such a priority axis may be entirely dedicated to operations addressing migratory challenges as a result of the military aggression by the Russian Federation, including the dedicated priority axis referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 98(4).’;

(9)

in Article 130(3), the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘By way of derogation from paragraph 2, the contribution from the Funds or the EMFF through payments of the final balance for each priority per Fund and per category of regions in the final accounting year shall not exceed, by more than 15 %, the contribution from the Funds or the EMFF for each priority per Fund and per category of regions as laid down in the decision of the Commission approving the operational programme.’.

Article 2

Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2021/1060

Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 is amended as follows:

(1)

in Article 90(2), the following subparagraph is added:

‘An additional 0,5 % pre-financing shall be paid in 2022 immediately following the entry into force of this Regulation and an additional 0,5 % pre-financing shall be paid in 2023 for programmes supported by the ERDF, ESF+ or the Cohesion Fund under the Investment for jobs and growth goal. Where a programme is adopted after 31 December 2022, the 2022 instalment shall be paid in the year of adoption.’;

(2)

in Article 90(5), the first subparagraph is replaced with the following:

‘5. The amount paid as pre-financing for the years 2021 and 2022, with the exception of the additional pre-financing referred to in the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article, shall be cleared from the Commission accounts each year. All other amounts paid as pre-financing shall be cleared from the Commission accounts no later than with the final accounting year in accordance with Article 100.’;

(3)

in Article 112, the following paragraph is added:

‘7. Where a separate priority is established within a programme to support operations promoting the socioeconomic integration of third country nationals, a co-financing rate of up to 100 % shall be applied to expenditure declared in payment applications until the end of the accounting year ending on 30 June 2024. After that date, the co-financing rate set out in the programme in accordance with the maximum co-financing rates listed under paragraphs 3 and 4 shall apply.

The total amount programmed under such priorities in a Member State shall not exceed 5 % of the initial national allocation from the ERDF and the ESF+ combined.

The Commission shall review the co-financing rate by 30 June 2024.

At least 30 % of the financial allocation of such a separate priority shall be attributed to operations which have beneficiaries that are local authorities or civil society organisations operating in local communities. Member States shall report on the fulfilment of that condition in the final performance report required under Article 43. Where that condition is not fulfilled, reimbursement by the Commission under the priority concerned shall be reduced proportionately to ensure that that condition is respected when calculating the final balance to be paid to the programme.’;

(4)

the following article is inserted:

‘Article 118a

Conditions for operations subject to phased implementation that were selected for support before 29 June 2022 under Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013

1. Notwithstanding Article 118, where an operation with a total cost exceeding EUR 1 000 000 was selected for support and started before 29 June 2022 under Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and Fund-specific Regulations (EU) No 1301/2013 (*3), (EU) No 1304/2013 (*4), (EU) No 1300/2013 (*5), (EU) No 1299/2013 (*6) and (EU) No 508/2014 (*7) of the European Parliament and of the Council, that operation shall be deemed eligible for support under this Regulation and the corresponding Fund-specific Regulations in the 2021–2027 programming period.

By way of derogation from Article 73(1) and (2), the managing authority may decide to grant support to such an operation under this Regulation directly, provided that the following conditions are met:

(a)	the operation has two phases that are identifiable from a financial point of view with separate audit trails;

(b)	the operation falls within actions programmed under a relevant specific objective and is attributed to a type of intervention in accordance with Annex I;

(c)	expenditure included in a payment application in relation to the first phase is not included under any payment applications in relation to the second phase;

(d)

the Member State commits to complete during the programming period and render operational the second and final phase in the final implementation report, or in the context of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund in the last annual implementation report, submitted in accordance with Article 141 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.

2. This Article shall not apply to operations addressing migratory challenges resulting from the military aggression by the Russian Federation that are supported by making use of the possibility provided under the first and second subparagraphs of Article 98(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.

(*3)  Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the European Regional Development Fund and on specific provisions concerning the Investment for growth and jobs goal and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 289)."

(*4)  Regulation (EU) No 1304/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the European Social Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 470)."

(*5)  Regulation (EU) No 1300/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the Cohesion Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1084/2006 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 281)."

(*6)  Regulation (EU) No 1299/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on specific provisions for the support from the European Regional Development Fund to the European territorial cooperation goal (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 259)."

(*7)  Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2328/2003, (EC) No 861/2006, (EC) No 1198/2006 and (EC) No 791/2007 and Regulation (EU) No 1255/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 149, 20.5.2014, p. 1).’;"

(5)

in Annex I, the following lines are added at the end of Table 1:

INTERVENTION FIELD 3	Coefficient for the calculation of support to climate change objectives	Coefficient for the calculation of support to environmental objectives
‘Other codes related to operations subject to phased implementation pursuant to Article 118a
183	Household waste management: landfill	0 %	100 %
184	Electricity storage and transmission	100 %	40 %
185	Natural gas: storage, transmission and distribution	0 %	0 %
186	Airports	0 %	0 %
187	Productive investment in large enterprises linked to the low-carbon economy	40 %	0 %’

Article 3

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.